Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Southwest Florida Internationa Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Myers, Florida 33913
Friday, July 10, 2009 16:08 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was descending through 12,500 feet on approach to the airport. The airplane was jolted as it flew through a small cumulus cloud. Specifically, the airplane dropped about 20 feet instantaneously, experiencing a positive g-load of 1.98, followed by a negative g-load of -0.43, less than 1 second later. During that time, a seated passenger did not have her seatbelt fastened. She fell forward into the stowed tray table in front of her, fracturing two ribs. A second passenger was in an aft lavatory and suffered two spinal fractures. The captain had made a passenger announcement during initial descent and prior to the turbulence encounter, emphasizing the need for passengers to take their seats and fasten their seatbelts when the seatbelt sign was illuminated. Additionally, a flight attendant made a public announcement when the seatbelt sign was illuminated. The seatbelt sign had been illuminated since 19,000 feet (about 4 minutes prior) and the airplane was not flying through any precipitation. The captain had also instructed the flight attendants via intercom to sit down a few minutes prior to the turbulence encounter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An inadvertent in-flight encounter with turbulence during approach. Contributing to the accident was the passengers' failure to follow the instructions of the illuminated seatbelt sign.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1608 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fort Myers |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33913 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 263210N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814519W |
| Event Location Airport | Southwest Florida Internationa |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RSW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 30 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RSW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 149 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26084 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Aircraft Operator |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 22 2009 9:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N606JB |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA396 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AIRBUS |
| Aircraft Model | A320-232 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2384 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 171958 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 4 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 6 |
| Passenger Seats | 150 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 160 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 10 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 18703 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11829 QUEENS BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | FOREST HILLS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 11375-7203 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 11829 QUEENS BLVD |
| Operator City | FOREST HILLS |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 11375-7203 |
| Operator Code | YENA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | YENA176J |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | JFK |
| Departure City | New York |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1403 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RSW |
| Destination City | Fort Myers |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 22 2009 9:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |